HCC public financing

Thursday

Jan 30, 2014 at 12:01 AM

In a recent mailing from Hutchinson Community College, it is noteworthy to find that 40 percent of funding comes from Reno County taxpayers. This financial benefit to the college is passed on in tuition savings to students attending the college. I am all for higher education but have grave concerns about the share coming directly from Reno County property owners.

Close inspection of the breakdown in mill levies indicates that about 15 percent or $150 of every $1,000 we pay in property taxes goes directly to HCC. The mill levy for HCC is included in the other section of your appraisal statement which is just another concern because there appears to be some effort to actually camouflage the mill levy support from the taxpayers. What is more concerning is that no accountability for a limit on public funding is in place by the State Charters for Public Junior Colleges.

My challenge is directed to the trustees and administration of HCC to begin actively pursuing a way to phase down or out the burden of support from Reno County taxpayers. It would seem to me that, if education is a solution for betterment of students, it is also a better way for all who contribute in our society. I believe a voluntary effort by HCC leadership would be an excellent way to demonstrate how knowledge can really work. I make this challenge because of HCC's long history and by now some effort to make it a self-sufficient endeavor should be underway. It is no longer just a start up idea. How about HCC being a model for other community colleges in our state to become more self sufficient?

All students coming to state junior colleges get a tuition break, which means that all property owners in the state of Kansas would seem to have a share in public support. A statewide sharing of public funding would be a more equitable financial support if public funding continues. I would support such an effort, but suspect that the politics is currently overloaded with controversy. The voluntary effort to achieve a self sufficient HCC has longer-term stability features.

LEWIS D. SCHMIDTHutchinson

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